IT is called Always Open Timer and it is the system that is guaranteed to make you want to get that top down on your MINI as often as possible.

It comes as an option and it could be quite fun because what it does is tot up just how often you have the roof down on your convertible. I mean, what is the point of buying a convertible if you never lower the roof? But, amazingly, lots of people end up driving with it up a lot of the time.

And that is where this feature has all the potential for encouraging folks to get that hood down. The MINI community is very loyal and close, and some bright spark has come up with the idea is that using the Always Open Timer, drivers could start a challenge to see just who could have their roof lowered the most.

And it’s not as daft as it seems. You just need a dry day, not necessarily a sunny day, for optimum open-top driving – as long as you wrap up warm. All this was running through my head as I gazed at the roof on my MINI. Should I or shouldn’t I? Spring in Scotland – but what the heck.

Fun on the run - inside the Mini is as quirky and fun as the exterior.

It goes down – or up – in less than 20 seconds at the touch of a button, which meant if it started to rain, I shouldn’t get too wet. It was a gorgeous but chilly evening and it was fun – and that’s what open-top driving is all about.

Of course, the MINI is fun a lot of the time – it has that great go-kart feel that keeps you racing around corners and hurtling through bends, always knowing that you will stick like glue to the road.

Read More

Read More

I love the way it retains the retro feel inside, even when they added in the nav system in that great big circle at the front that used to house the clock. And the toggles and circular air vents are all singularly MINI.

My version had the CHILI pack on board. Now this does come in at more than £3000 but it gives you so many extras that most people buying a MINI opt for it anyway. It includes a sports steering wheel, 16in alloys, sports seats, automatc lights and wipers, automatc air conditioning, LED foglights and headlights and the MINI driving modes.

The roof electrically folds neatly behind the rear headrests.

You flick a switch on the centre console and the big dial goes red for sports mode for a bit of extra oomph – as if you needed it – or you can flick it the other way for green Eco driving.

In the last 10 years, the MINI convertible has been the best-selling soft-top in the UK market and MINI are pulling out the stops to make sure it stays that way. And, of course, let us not forget, it also has four seats.

It is unlikely, the way things are going, that we will ever end our love affair with this super little car. Once you’ve got the bug, you can’t get rid of it.